Bill Toomey described the post-quake scene at the PGC building in February 2011 as "horrific".

Christchurch builder Bill Toomey has won a landmark case against ACC to cover the post-traumatic stress disorder he suffered after pulling people from a collapsed building after the February 2011 earthquake.

After the earthquake hit, Toomey downed his tools and drove into town to see how he could help.

Firemen took him into the PGC building, where he helped drill through a concrete floor to rescue people trapped inside.

Matty Lovell
Bill Toomey was part of a team of volunteers who helped dig a hole on a floor of the collapsed PGC building to rescue trapped people.

He described the scene as "horrific".

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"I could hear people screaming, there was dust everywhere."

Matty Lovell
Workers enter the PGC Building through a hole cut in a concrete floor.

Two years later, Toomey had what he thought was a heart attack. After three hospital admissions and a battery of tests, he was diagnosed with PTSD.

His symptoms included chest pain, difficulty with walking, nightmares and shaking. He was unable to work for more than two years.

Concrete dust, sirens and people screaming could trigger Toomey's shaking. He would struggle to breathe and think he would die.

Derek Flynn
A woman is freed from the PGC building after being trapped for more than 20 hours.

ACC denied his claim because his mental health injury was not triggered at work.

Bill Toomey won a case against ACC to cover his PTSD treatment after he volunteered to help rescue people during the earthquakes. ACC is now appealing the court decision.

"I've gone from a high two-and-a half-weeks ago to wanting to punch somebody. Rightly or wrongly, that's how I feel."

He felt his recovery had been set back, he said.

"It was getting better because of the help I've had and this has just knocked it back, well and truly."

After the court decision was released on April 28, a case manager called to see what help they could offer him.

About two days later, the assistance was subject to an appeal.

"I honestly now I think they are just afraid . . . 'oh heck, if we look after Bill who else are we going to have to look after'. . . it shouldn't be about the money."

Lawyer Louise Newman said a judge would consider if there was grounds for an appeal. The process could take up to three months.

ACC argued Toomey was not entitled to cover as he was not working at the time of the earthquake.

It might be concerned his case would set a precedent and other volunteer workers would make claims, she said.

In Toomey's case, emergency services asked him to help rescue people immediately after the earthquake happened because he had specialist skills as a builder.

"He went down there with the intention of volunteering to help out where he could, but the only reason he was taken in to the building itself was because they asked if anyone had building experience in order to help them with that," Newman said.

Under the ACC Act, the definition of employment involved pecuniary gain, but Newman said Toomey was able to set his own terms of employment, including where and when he worked, as he was self-employed.